AV Assistant vs nautiMessage
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AV Assistant
This app provides U.S. waters navigation information, displaying your location and details of surrounding aids like buoys and lights. It downloads weekly U.S. Coast Guard Light List data and includes relevant Local Notice for Mariners information. It also allows users to report discrepancies in navigation aids to the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Location-based aid display
- U.S. Coast Guard Light List data
- Local Notice for Mariners integration
- Discrepancy reporting to USCG
- Informational aid for U.S. waters
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AV Assistant is an informational aid for U.S. waters that shows your location and details on all surrounding aids to navigation (buoys, lights, etc) within your Area of Interest. The app downloads the weekly U.S. Coast Guard Light List for your district, and then shows the aids within your Area of Interest and their details. Any applicable Local Notice for Mariners information is also shown with the light data. For reference use, Nearest Light, also in the App Store, is the better choice. AV Assistant is capable of making reports to the U.S. Coast Guard regarding discrepancies in aids to navigation and is primarily intended for USCG and USCG Auxiliary use. Refer to the website (url in Settings|Reference) for additional information. Warning: AV Assistant, which provides Light List data, is not intended to be used in place of charts or Coast Pilots. Charts should be consulted for the location of all aids to navigation. It may be dangerous to use aids to navigation without reference to charts.
nautiMessage
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An easy way to send short signal flag messages to others using either text messaging or your email. Simply enter your message and press Copy and you can paste the signal flag message into your text. Includes a quick reference guide showing all the flags. This program is a great introduction to the mvSigFlags application which is a state-of-the-art training tool to help you quickly learn all the signal flags using mnemonic techniques. See more information on our website at www.mySigFlags.com
Screenshots
Verdict
AV Assistant and nautiMessage are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AV Assistant ships an update every 2 months, nautiMessage monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AV Assistant | nautiMessage |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Clint O'Connor | Miravista Interactive L.L.C. |
In-app purchases
AV Assistant
No in-app purchases
nautiMessage
No in-app purchases
